Pope Barrow Billups (1889-1955)

From the New York Age, August 2, 1924.

  With February being Black History Month, the remainder of this month will be devoted to highlighting curiously named African-American political figures, the first of which is one term New York state assemblyman Pope Barrow Billups. A leading black lawyer in New York's 21st assembly district, Billups' tenure in the legislature may have been brief but his term saw him designated as an "industrious legislator" with an extensive record of proposing legislation. Billups' work included successfully guiding passage of a court bill that provided for additional municipal judges in his district, ushering in the prospect of African-Americans to be elected as judges in the city.

  A native of Athens, Georgia, Pope Barrow Billups was born in that city on October 11, 1889, the son of William D. and Elizabeth (Tucker) Billups. Bestowed the curious names Pope Barrow upon his birth, Billups appears to have been named in honor of another odd named political figure, Middleton Pope Barrow (1839-1903) a former member of the Georgia state assembly and, briefly, a U.S. Senator from that state. Billups' early schooling saw him enrolled at the Florida Baptist Academy in Jacksonville, graduating in the class of 1910. From there Billups began study at the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College, and beginning in 1908 took work as a stenographer in that state.

  After several years as a stenographer, Billups decided to pursue a law degree and relocated to New York. He enrolled at the New York University Law School and one year after his graduation in 1916 was admitted to the New York bar. Pope B. Billups married in Manhattan in April 1919 to Edna Pierre Lartigue, and the couple later adopted a son, William Robinson.

  In the years following his establishing a law practice in Brooklyn, Billups was acknowledged as "one of the most successful accomplished lawyers of the race in the city." He would also gain prominence in fraternal groups in the city, holding memberships in the International Order of Odd Fellows, the Clubmen's Beneficial League, and was a past exalted ruler in the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World. In addition to those clubs, Billups was retained as an attorney for the Supreme Order of Moose and the Knights of Pythias Lodges and was for several years a trustee for the Bethel Baptist Church. 

   Pope B. Billups was called to the political field in August 1924 when the Republicans of the 21st assembly district put forward his name as their candidate for the state assembly. After receiving the nomination, Billups was accorded an extensive write-up in the New York Age, then one of the most influential black newspapers published in the nation. Acknowledged as a "college and professional man" with "culture and refinement", Billups:

"Typifies the self made man of the newer generation who has successfully forged his way to the front in spite of many difficulties. It is expected that his designation by the organization will serve to unify the several militant factors in the 21st Assembly District because of the general esteem in which he is held by all Republican workers in the district."

  Billups' opponent that year was Democrat Henri W. Shields, the incumbent assemblyman who had first won election in 1922. Like Billups, Shields was a black attorney in New York City and had etched his name into the history books when he became not only the first black Democrat ever elected to the New York State Assembly but the first black Democratic legislator elected in the nation's history. That November it was Billups who emerged triumphant, besting Shields by over 1,100 votes.

  Within a few months of taking his seat in January 1925, Billups had gained press as a proposer of legislation, introducing bills that would amend the state's benevolent orders law, and amend the personal property law. Early in this session, Billups introduced a bill that would have a substantial effect on the city judiciary. This bill (later referred to as the Billups bill) would:

"Amend the New York City municipal court code in relation to change of boundaries of the Seventh district and to provide for additional justices for this district."

  With this bill's passage in March 1925, two new municipal judges were to be provided for the seventh district, as well as the creation of a new judicial district, the 10th. As this legislation would directly affect the majority-black area of Harlem, Billups' bill paved the way for African American lawmakers to be nominated for judgeships in the city. Despite producing a landmark piece of legislation that year, Billups would lose his assembly reelection bid in November 1925, being defeated by Democrat Albert Grossman by a 1,000 vote margin.
  Following his defeat, Billups returned to practicing law and in the late 1920s served as president of the Harlem Life Insurance Company. In 1927 he reemerged on the political scene when he entered the Republican primary race for Judge of the 7th District Municipal Court. Unfortunately for Billups, he would lose out to incumbent Judge Lewis A. Abrams, who'd been elected one year previously. Undeterred, Billups was again a candidate for municipal judge in 1930 and during this campaign was touted as a "fearless lawyer, tireless worker, and noted trial lawyer".

From the New York Age, September 13, 1930.

  Running as an independent candidate, Billups would again go down to defeat in the September primary, polling just 1,830 votes. With two losing judicial candidacies behind him, Billups set his sights on a seat on the New York Board of Aldermen from the 21st district, and in September 1935 won the Republican primary. Billups would go on to lose the general election that November to Democrat Eustace V. Dench, who polled 3,859 votes to his own 3,154.

  Little is known of Billups' life following his defeat for alderman. He continued with his law practice and fraternal memberships, and in 1947 is recorded as a legal advisor for the Independent Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World. Pope B. Billups died on December 6, 1955, and was later interred at the Rosedale and Rosehill Cemetery in Linden, Union County, New Jersey.

Jeromus Johnson (1775-1846)

Portrait courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum.

   Two-term U.S. Representative Jeromus Johnson can rightly be labeled as an "old guard" oddly named political figure, as I discovered his name via the Congressional Bioguide database way back in the summer of 2000. In the eighteen years since becoming aware of Mr. Johnson, he stands as the only "Jeromus" I've found, and other than a few brief biographical lines on the Congressional Bioguide and Wikipedia, Johnson's life largely remains obscure. The son of Capt. Barent Johnson (1740-1782), a state militia captain, and the former Anne Remsen (1745-1792), Jeromus Johnson was born in Wallabout, New York on November 2, 1775. He was a student in the Wallabout schools and during his youth moved to New York City. In 1802 he married Mary Carpenter (1782-1863) and would have at least one daughter, Mary Carpenter Johnson (died 1849).

   After his removal to New York City Johnson plotted his future and the succeeding years saw him attain prominence in several business endeavors in the city, including service as a trustee for the Seaman's Bank for Savings, being a director of the Merchants Fire Insurance Company and had a hand in establishing "the first horse-drawn omnibus line from Manhattan to Brooklyn." From 1805-1812 Johnson operated a distillery in Hudson, New York, devoted to the manufacture of rum from imported molasses. 

   Long active in Democratic political circles in the city, Jeromus Johnson was remarked as  "sort of a pillar in Tammany" and following his election to the New York State Assembly in 1821 chaired the assembly committee responsible for the North River and Fulton Bank charters. A staunch Tammany man and Jacksonian Democrat at the time of his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1824, Johnson served two terms in Congress (1825-1829) and chaired the Committee on Public Expenditures. As a cog in the largest political machine in New York City, Jeromus Johnson proved to be susceptible to political patronage, and as two of his contemporaries (Benjamin F. Butler and Jesse Hoyt) noted in their retrospective of the city political scene:

"Mr. Van Buren knew his man, and he baited a political hook with an appraiser's office; hung it up in the ceiling of the House of Representatives to make Jeromus vote straight when he went to congress. Jerome kept his eye upon the bait--was in due time nominated an appraiser, though he had been a conservative and voted for the Tallmadge pledge"

   Indeed; one year following his final term in Congress, Jeromus Johnson was named as Appraiser of Goods for the Port of New York in 1830, an office he would fill through the administrations of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. Following his retirement in 1840, Johnson retired to his estate in Goshen, Orange County, New York, where he died on September 7, 1846, aged 70. He was survived by his wife Mary and both were interred in the Johnson family cemetery, a private graveyard located on the grounds of their estate.

From the American Republican and Baltimore Clipper, Sept. 14, 1846.

Wauhope Lynn (1856-1920)

Portrait from "Notable New Yorkers of 1896-1899".

  This stern-looking man is Wauhope Lynn, a native of Ireland who during the late 19th century became a distinguished member of the New York bar. An assistant district attorney for New York as well as a judge on both the district and municipal courts, Lynn would also serve a term in the New York state assembly, being elected in 1900. Wauhope Lynn was the son of Crawford and Mary A. Lynn and was born in Ballymena, County of Antrim, Ireland on December 14, 1856. The first eleven years of Lynn's life was spent in the country of his birth, and he would receive his early education here. He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1866 and would settle in New York City, attending the city schools as well as working as a "maker of chemical apparatus".

  During the 1870s Lynn would be employed as a mechanic and during his free time would read law to better educate himself. Around 1879 he began attending the Cooper Union School, where he would excel in oratory, and in 1880 began a stint as a clerk in a local law office. Lynn would continue his education at the Law School at New York University and graduated with his law degree in the class of 1882. After being admitted to the bar following his graduation he was selected to be a docket clerk in the New York County clerk's office.

  Lynn remained in the clerk's office for several years and in 1891 received the appointment of Deputy District Attorney of New York County. Serving under District Attorney DeLancey Nicoll (1854-1931), Lynn would later be appointed as Assistant District Attorney, and his time in this post was lauded by the New York Times, which noted that:

"In this position he made a record of having disposed of 289 cases in twenty days, the sentences from which aggregated more than 1,000 years." 

   Wauhope Lynn's time as Assistant District attorney ended with his resignation in 1892, having received the appointment as Judge of the First District Court of New York City. He would be reelected to the bench on two more occasions, both of which he won with a 5,000 vote majority. In 1897 Lynn began service as a Judge of the Municipal Court of the City of New York and three years later received the nomination for a seat in the New York State Assembly. That November Lynn defeated his Republican opponent, Martin J. Nerney, by a vote of 5,020 to 2, 995. Taking his seat at the start of the January 1901 term, Lynn served on the committees on Claims and Railroads during his one term in the assembly. Despite his brief service, Lynn gained press in 1901 when he introduced a bill aiming to "compel the printing of newspapers in type of a specified size". Introduced as a "health law", the basis of Lynn's bill was for "the protection of the eyesight of readers", and, not surprisingly, was called "absurd" in periodicals of the time.

  

   Following his brief time in the assembly Lynn returned to his judicial duties and while extensive mention is given as to Lynn's service as a judge and assemblyman, his personal life has been a bit more difficult to research. He married first to Anna Nelson, with whom he would have one son, Norman Mills Lynn. Following Anna's death in February 1910 Wauhope remarried to Catherine Corson in June of 1912, and Catherine would survive her husband upon his death in August 1920. 

  A member of Tammany Hall, Wauhope Lynn is noted as being active in "Irish affairs" in New York City, being a member of the Irish Land League, and for many years was a member of both the Iroquois Club and the Monticello Club. In the early 1890s, Lynn had purchased property in the area of Good Ground, Long Island where he would build his home "Lynncliff",  where he died on August 17, 1920 of a heart attack. He had retired from the bench on January 1st of that year and following his passing was interred at Brooklyn's famed Green-wood Cemetery, which, coincidentally enough, happens to be the resting places of two other oddly named political figures who've been profiled here Thorndyke Corning McKennee, and Lispenard Stewart.

Wauhope Lynn, a portrait from his obituary in the Aug. 18, 1920 NY Evening World.